Dead Man's Game
by myasianself
Summary: Wally loved his best friend. But he loved his girlfriend too. Dick knew this. He knew both these things. So why was he doing this to him and Artemis? Didn't Dick know what he was asking them for?


Dick paced the atrium of the Cave. It was rare for such a smooth, cocky young man such as Dick to get nervous. The sound of the female voice in the systems of the Zeta tubes filled the main room with an echo.

_Recognized. Artemis B07. Recognized. Kid Flash B03. _

Abruptly, Dick stopped the rhythmic pads of his walking. He knew what he was asking of two of his best friends. It was nothing short of a sacrifice. It would fracture the bridge between Wally and Dick, but it had to be done.

"Wally. Artemis." Dick approached the two former vigilantes. His voice didn't even waver, but his sudden doubt threw his stomach in a flurry of rising butterflies. He couldn't be Dick now. He had to store away his emotions and be Nightwing, leader of the Team.

Wally rapidly approached the focus of where Dick was located. "Grayson you better explain what you're asking of us." His voice was dripping with anger and confusion. The usual demeanor of a happy redhead was missing. Dick…Nightwing...straightened himself and shot a look at Artemis, who soon placed herself next to Wally.

"Wally, relax." Artemis had a thin smile on, however gave Nightwing a genuine look of apology. "We don't even know the whole story yet. I trust him." It was at this moment in which Nightwing became Dick again. He couldn't use such an approach with people who were easily part of his family.

"It's Kaldur. Black Manta is having his suspicions. It's not enough to have Kaldur nearly kill us. Black Manta wants one of us dead before he can trust his son. We need this. This is the closest we've ever been to the light." Dick stumbled upon his words, attempting to choose his words carefully. Words had always been easy to the human Dicktionary. Hell, he even made some of his own, however at this moment, his wide range of vocabulary failed him and only made him nervous. Wally continued to look at Dick, his distrust painted plainly on his face. That nearly impaled Dick's heart, not to have his best friend trust his plan. But then again, who was to say it would work? What if it really didn't work after all the planning and precision and effort put into it?

"You're asking Artemis or me to die!" Wally flushed red, his tone rising multiple octaves and volumes. "Dick" He put both Dick's name and an insult into the word. "Dick I'm sorry." Resignation found itself in his voice. "We can't do what you're asking us to do."

"Speak for yourself." Artemis put on a brave front. She allowed her hands to tremble, however she tucked them across her chest. "The Team needs us. One of us has to do it." Besides, she thought on a side note. Here's my big Wonderland adventure I've always wanted. She really would be in a Wonderland, wouldn't she?

Wally shook his head in disagreement. "No. No we don't. Dick, you have the Team for a reason. Why choose us?"

"They're too young, too inexperienced. We don't need another legitimate death on our hands," Dick said quickly. Fresh memories of both Tula and Jason filled his head with imaginary occurrences of what could go wrong for someone on the Team, should they choose to do such a life threatening mission. They were only kids. He was like them once. He knew what it was like to lose a teammate. The scenario had been awful, and it had brought him nightmares every night when he was Robin. Even to this day Dick had woken up in a freezing, clammy state of shock with screams overflowing in his mouth.

"What about M'gann and Conner? Wouldn't they do it? M'gann could definitely go incognito, with the whole cameo power thing. Not that I don't want to help," Artemis filled towards the end hurriedly.

Dick pinched his lips to the side. "I considered it. They wouldn't work either. They don't know Kaldur's working as a double agent for us. Conner still has issues with his anger, which could interfere with the mission. M'gann probably couldn't refrain from using her powers for a long time." Dick paused for a while, knowing everyone knew where this was headed. "And neither could you Wally. Artemis is our only choice and best suited candidate for undercover work, aside from Kaldur."

Wally's stomach plummeted and his heart rate rapidly increased. "Artemis.." He looked at her, her features enhanced in the special lighting of the Cave. He knew her well enough to know she was scared too. He understood that she would accept the mission though, regardless of his protests and her personal emotions involving the mission. Out of the whole original Team, she was one of the people who understood the most about justice and fairing for the innocent of the world, as no one had ever done that for her as a child. She couldn't decline; as the fate of Earth had already been thrown upon her shoulders the moment Dick explained the situation.

Artemis gave acknowledgement to her name, looking back at Wally with a smile of reassurance, although he could see her hands were still moving with fear. "Hey. I'll be dead won't I? They'll never figure out. What could go wrong, right?"

"What could go wrong...?" Wally repeated the phrase out loud. Dick placed his hands on both the archer and the speedster, a mixture of remorse and determination placating itself in his eyes. There was a hell of a lot that could go wrong, too much for any of them to think about at that moment, but when Wally sat on his empty couch three weeks later without the warmth of a particular blonde headed female next to him, it was all he could think about. Even geniuses like Dick made mistakes. Wally prayed to every god out there, that this wasn't one of those times.

**A/N: OH MY GOT THIS IS MY FIRST REAL FANFICTION EVER AOEIJEWIR. Which is why I'm so sorry D: I tried to stay in character and such but awfjoiewjf I'm sorry I'll stop. Also one last apology about the shit title before I exit, peace out**


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